Improvement in railroad-rails



UNITED STATES 4PATET OFFICE.

WILLIAM l). OBRIEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

lMPFtOVEl/IENZ'I IN RAILROAD-RAILS.

Speeilil'ation formingl part of Letters Patent No. 43,599, dated July 1i), .1364.

l'o all trimm it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM DEsMoND OBRIEN, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a vcertain new and useful Improvement in 'lraeks for City Railroads; and I do hereby declare` that the following is' a full, clear, and exact description ot' the natn re and object ot' my said invention, refer'-v once being had to theannexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1. a cross-section of one track, and lig.,2 is a plan of one'of the rails.

Similar marks ot' reference indicate the same parts..

The-tracks for city railroads heretofore laid are found practically defective in use, because` the .sills on'whichthe tracks are laid rot out.

Thisrtitting takes place mosti yat the'jointslbetween' the'rails. There are several causes tending to produce'l this result. Ln the first place the rails have usually been of 'a grooved form,

and., the water rns in these grooves, (when 1ain1 ng,) until, itcomes to a joint, where it passes down and soaks into the sills and earth.

' Sometimes the water will run between the sill and tie rail for somev distance, because the two are notclosely in contact and the sill isl Hat at the top and sometimes 'sligh tly grooved.

All this tends to exposeitlie sill 'to alternate wot and dry, and hastens the rotting. In the next place, the spikes that hold the rails to the sili'have usually been inserted diagonally, and a spike being near the end of eaclrraii has tendedto split and injure the wood near the joints, hastening rot."

M y .said 'invention iconsists of a crescentshapcd rail screwed onto the curved top ot' the sill, ioriningwhat I terni the economical roof- I j rail fdr city railroads, because the same forms an Varched "covering to the sill sutiiciently strong for' the wheels, but considerably lighten' than other' bars. l At the Sametime the water is shed ott' from the sill, and the same kept as dry as possible,.and the screws holding the rail down, entering directly from above, make a very durable connection, and, not being liableto motion, as a spike, the water does not penelthrough the upper surface ofthe rail. into the still below.

' The paving-stents are tobe laid as shown, so as to come up to the top of the rail' at the outside and dropped down between the tracks toallow room furthe 'liangesoi' the wheels.

lt will now be `evident that this manner of forming city 4or horse .railroad tracks possesses great advantages over all others heretofore invented, because the 'sill is more ei'ectually protectedfro'm rotting,iint i a iiiich li gli ter rail can be used. I'not onlycover'the upper surface of the sill with arail that will Vprevent 'water lying on or soaking intovsaid sill, but

the screws i entirely lill up the holes' bored in the iron /and prevent watensoaking in and rotting the sills.

In almost all horse-tracks hitherto laid the rails have been confined to -th'e sillsby square spikes driven obliquely through rouud'holes, in the iron, allowing water. topenetrate .from l `the .first and rrun along the surface ofthe sill,

and, as those spikes are often loosened and worked out by vehicles,the holes become conduits to admit thewater at everyshower into and alongr the surfaces of the sillswhioh speed ilyr rots the same, while screws not only keep opt the water, but never become loose, as praetieally tested by me in nine miles ot' city railroad track. t

l'do not claim ati-at rail with vertical [langes 3 nor do l claim securingrails to sills by means of screw bol ts and nuts but I am not aware ot' any previous instance inavhich a crescentshaped Arail has formeda cap or root' for all' the upper surface, of the-sills, and, being coumvo on tlio umle1sido,tuking the convex suri'nce oi'lho sill, pro'vents'iho lodging of water, und consequent rotting; as set forth therefore'- i What. I claim, and desire to tors Patent, is Y l. The crescent-shaped rail forming a roofor oop tol ille sills, as and for the' purposes specied.

secure by Letlvoiming the underside of the joint-plate city-railroads concave to setronto tlle convex surfaoe otjthe wood prepared to receive said plato,vfo' the purpose of preventngtlie lodging of Water plate and therottng consequent thereon, as set'forth.

- y In witness wheeof I halve'iheeunto set my 'signature this 9th day of May, 1860;., i f lWILLIAM D. OBRIEN.

Witnesses' LEMUEL W; SERRELL, THos. GEQ, HAROLD.

beneath the saidjoint- 

